UNITED NATIONS (AP) – Iran has left no doubt it intends to seek nuclear weapons now that it has violated a U.N. Security Council deadline to suspend uranium enrichment, and the council must now be ready to impose sanctions, Ambassador Bolton said Thursday.

Security Council unanimity was not needed before taking action against Iran, Mr. Bolton said in a reference to continued Chinese and Russian reluctance to move quickly on sanctions.

He spoke shortly after the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, said Iran shows no signs of freezing enrichment, adding that Tehran started work on a new batch Aug. 24.

Iran’s refusal to cooperate fully with the IAEA and its continued development of nuclear technology makes clear that it is seeking a nuclear bomb, Mr. Bolton told reporters. Iran contends its program is for peaceful purposes.

“There’s simply no explanation for the range of Iranian behavior which we’ve seen over the years other than that they’re pursuing a weapons capability,” Mr. Bolton said.

Last month, the Security Council gave Iran until Aug. 31 to suspend uranium enrichment, and warned that it would consider sanctions if those activities weren’t stopped. But it refused.

Mr. Bolton said the Security Council will wait to take any action until the foreign policy chief of the European Union, Javier Solana, meets with Ali Larijani, Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, sometime in the middle of next week.

“We’re certainly ready to proceed here in New York when we’re given the instructions to do so,” Mr. Bolton said.

Despite statements from Russia and China expressing their reluctance for sanctions, Mr. Bolton said the world should not assume that they would not punish Iran. He underscored that the two had agreed to the council resolution warning of possible sanctions.

“Russia and China, through their foreign ministers, committed _ committed _ to seeking sanctions” if Iran didn’t comply, Mr. Bolton said.